Destinies Entwined
by Infinity13
Summary: During the attack at Helgen, a young Imperial woman named Cyrilae is rescued from the chaos by one of the prisoners, Raerek, and finds herself drawn to him in a way she can't explain. In an effort to find the answers she seeks, Cyrilae journeys with the Dragonborn on his quest across Skyrim. But it wasn't by chance they met, and destiny has something special in store for them.


**Hey, people! So this is my first actual chapter story, which is going to be quite an adventure. I've been playing Skyrim for a long time, and after reading a few other stories, I decided I wanted to make my own. I have a lot of plans for the future, I'm just hoping I'll have the time and patience to get to them.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Skyrim or the Elder Scrolls series, Bethesda does.**

I watched as the Legion made preparations for the execution. Commander Maro was huddled up in a group of soldiers as they went over a list of names, scribbling things down here and there. The executioner sat to the side as he sharpened his scythe and the priestess had her eyes closed in prayer, praying for the damned souls of the sentenced prisoners about to arrive. A soldier carried a block into the center of the area, no doubt where the prisoners would be executed, and then another placed a large wooden crate beside it. I stared at the scene before me for minutes before shivering at the mental image of bloodied, severed heads piling up in the crate, and I had to force myself to look away. You would have thought that I had gotten used to the executions by now, considering that I've been living in Helgen since I was eight, when we moved away from Cyrodiil. I grew up in a place where the Legion was praised for their glory, they were the heroes of the people. But being here, I've come to realize that they aren't as glorious as I thought they were, and something inside me dies every time I see the cruelty they display during the executions.

"Open the gates!"

My head snapped up as I heard the shout echo through the empty streets. I soon heard the gates creak open, and then the soft rumble of wheels as the wagons full of prisoners approached the clearing, the Thalmor at their sides. My eyes scanned over the number of prisoners, noticing that the majority of them were Nords, easy to pick out among the others. They had broad shoulders and a menacing look about them. Their faces were hardened and smeared with dirt and grime, and some even with blood. Their large, sturdy hands were calloused from years of working and fighting, and their builds bulky and muscular. Most of them were dressed in the traditional Stormcloak attire, while others were dressed in rags. It was a sad picture, seeing all these helpless men sitting there as they waited to be slaughtered. But most looked calm, as if they were unafraid of what was going to come. Only the few common thieves or foreigners were whimpering and complaining that none of this was fair.

I looked upon the last wagon, which held four men in it. The first one had fair hair and was obviously a Stormcloak from the garments he wore. He held a peaceful look on his face and was trying to carry a conversation with one of the other Nords, though he remained distant, as if he still hadn't come to terms with his fate yet. There was another Stormcloak, though his uniform suggested that he was of a much higher rank than the other, and he had isolated himself from the rest of the group. The last was just another Nord, though something about him made him stand out from the others. He had unusual black hair and stunning silver eyes that drew me in, and he had a calm, yet mysterious, demeanor about him. Suddenly his shoulders tensed as if he sensed I was staring at him and his eyes searched until they found me in the crowd. His gaze locked with mine and my eyes widened, feeling the intensity of his gaze, though I was unable to tear away.

"Cyrilae!" a voice called from my left. I nearly jumped right out of my skin, causing the buckets I was holding to clatter to the ground. Embarrassed from my actions, I scrambled to collect the fallen objects and turned towards the voice. "Mother!" I exclaimed in surprise, wondering what she was doing out here at this time. She hated the executions.

Mother cast a worried glance over in the direction of the wagons, fidgeting in spot. "Please, come inside. This isn't the place for a girl to be, not now, at least." she spoke quickly, her eyes flickering over to the block once again.

"No! I'm not a little girl anymore! I can take care of myself, Mother." I replied harshly, ice lacing through my words. I narrowed my eyes as she opened her mouth to speak, though she quickly closed it as she saw the look on my face. I pushed past her and down the wooden steps in front of my house, moving towards the clearing and away from Mother. I glanced back at the man with the blue eyes, to find that he was still staring at me, a hint of curiosity flashing through his eyes. I looked away quickly, tilting my head down to let my auburn hair fall into my face to hide myself from him.

As the wagons came to a stop, the prisoners were called one-by-one from the list one of the soldiers, Hadvar, was reading off. A murmur of disbelief ran through the small crowd as Ulfric Stormcloak was called, though it was only short lived as the Legion continued calling names.

"You, you're not on the list." Hadvar spoke as he looked up at the only remaining prisoner, the silver eyed man. He glanced over the list once again before asking, "What's your name?"

He just stood there in silence for a few, long moments, just staring at the Imperial in silence, with his chin high. "Raerek Thonar." he answered, his bound hands clenched with impatience.

"I don't care if he's not on the damn list. He was caught trying to cross borders and will suffer the same fate as the rest of these Stormcloak scum." the Imperial Commander shouted from beside him, causing an uproar of insults from the condemned men. "Silence!" she ordered, her eyes narrowing into a death glare.

Hadvar nodded and scribbled the name down. "You heard what the woman said. At least you will die at home." he said, giving Raerek a sad look before joining his brothers in arms.

The priestess stepped forward, her arms raised as she looked at the sky. Her prayer began, a blessing to be placed upon the unfortunate who were brought here today. Her words echoed through the silence around us, but the peaceful moment was a short one.

"Get on with it! Nobody wants your stupid blessing." a Stormcloak warrior shouted, clenching and unclenching his fists. The priestess was obviously annoyed by his interruption, but let them proceed with the execution without her blessing.

The man walked up to the block, his head held high to live his last moments of life with pride. He slowly knelt to the ground and rested his head against the wood, eyes closed in acceptance of his cruel fate. The executioner stood above him, looking like the Grim Reaper as he raised his scythe and brought it down at the man's neck. The sickening sound of blade slicing through skin and bone echoed through the silence and I cringed as I watched his bloodied head fall into the crate. I just stared at it. I don't even remember them taking away the first body, but suddenly the next name was called.

"Raerek Thonar." Hadvar called, though his voice seemed quite distant. I looked over at Raerek as he slowly walked forward, not a single emotion showing on his face. His pace was slow and his eyes remained locked on the executioner until he reached the block.

A roar broke the silence that had fallen over us, causing every single one of us to jump and search for the source of the disruption. Murmurs ran through the crowd and even I was stunned by disbelief. It sounded like nothing I had ever heard before, like no animal I knew of. In fact, it didn't even sound like an animal, but a like a monster.

"Th-that was nothing. Get on with it!" the Commander ordered, though I could tell from her widened eyes and flushed face that she was just as startled by the noise as the rest of us were.

Raerek tossed a glare in her direction, and I didn't blame him. It was her fault that he was in the position he was in now. His eyes then trailed along the curve of the weapon, only inches away from his face, before getting down to his knees. He was pushed forward from behind, so his face slammed into the hard surface of the block, cringing only slightly. A wave of loss washed over me as I watched, feeling much more sympathy towards him than I should have. I don't even know who this man is, and yet I still feel grief and sorrow for the fact that he is going to die.

Wind began to pick up and my hair started swirling around my face. A loud, beating sound echoed through the streets of Helgen and a large shadow dropped from the sky. The same roar pierced the air and large, red, beady eyes stared down at the people below it.

"What in the name of Oblivion is that?" one of the soldiers stuttered out of bewilderment as he stared up above the buildings, watching as the black creature took its place on the top of the keep, sending rubble and dust flying from the walls.

"Dragon!" another shouted in fear, dropping his weapon as he scurried away from the creature.

The beast didn't pay any attention to the screaming men, its beady red eyes locked on Raerek's humped form. All of a sudden, it shouted something that, to me, sounded like the growl of a beast, but I could feel that it had a hidden meaning behind if, some kind of power. The force of the shout seemed to shake the whole world. Everything around me was spinning and tilting, and sending people flying all over the place. I tumbled to the ground, crying out in pain from the sudden impact.

I just sat there on the ground, staring wide-eyed at the dragon as it turned its attention away from Raerek and towards the archers who were continuously trying to fire arrows at it. It snarled and pushed itself from the tower, diving down towards them as it released a shower of flames upon them. I couldn't believe this. There was no way any of this could be real. Dragons had died off too long ago, before the days of Tiber Septim. This was impossible.

Suddenly I was jerked up to my feet and was pulled off to the side. Someone was yelling at me, but I was in too much of a trance to even comprehend what they were saying. My ears were still ringing and my vision was blurred, everything seemed to be spinning around me. I watched through the daze as the dragon picked up a soldier in his claws and bit down on the poor soul. Blood was everywhere and dead bodies were already lining the streets. It was amazing, in a sick way, to see how much damage a dragon could do in mere seconds. Fire licked at my feet as I was pulled out of the clearing and pushed through the doorway of one of the sentry towers. I collided with the ground, letting out a surprised shout, and groaned as I rolled onto my back. I finally began to process everything and my eyes darted around me until the rested upon the man who brought me here: Raerek. I scrambled to my feet and brushed the dirt from my dress, frowning as he watched me with amusement dancing in his eyes.

"What, no 'thank you' for the man who saved your life?" he asked, crossing his arms and the corners of his lips curled up in a smirk.

I rolled my eyes and mirrored his image as I crossed my arms over my chest. "I'm completely capable of handling myself. I would have done just fine without your help." I retorted, lifting my chin higher into the air with an edge of arrogance.

Raerek raised an eyebrow, his body shaking with silent laughter. "Oh really? Because from what I had witnessed, you would have been squashed like a torchbug if I hadn't grabbed you." he pointed out, and I knew he was right. I had froze like a complete idiot, but there was no way I was going to ever admit that. My pride wouldn't allow it.

"I would not! I was just startled, I would have been perfectly fine." I brushed off his insults, gritting my teeth in embarrassment. Raerek opened his mouth to make some sarcastic comment, though he was cut off by the other Stormcloak.

"Are you two daft? There's no time for this! If we want to get out of Helgen alive, we need to head for the Helgen Keep, now. Raerek, take her with you. She can help navigate you to the keep. The rest of us will follow." he ordered as he cut the bindings off a few of the others who had made it out.

Raerek nodded and turned towards me, giving me a cocky grin. "You heard what the man said, let's get out of here." he said before prodding me towards a hole in the wall that the dragon had created.

I frowned but I did was I was told, seeing it as my only chance of survival. I told him to stay close to me as I jumped down from the hole, crouching against the wall of the building we had landed in. Glancing around to make sure the dragon wasn't in sight, I bursted into a sprint and ran out of the building and across the clearing. The keep was more towards the center of the town, but it would be safest to stay by the walls to stay hidden. I made sure Raerek was still following me every now and then and placed my hands on the wall I was running beside. I was suddenly jerked backwards, falling into Raerek's arms in the process, and before I could shout in protest, his large hand was clamped over my mouth. I struggled rashly in his hold, my eyes burning with frustration, but when I saw the dragon's head looming over the top of the wall, I froze. The dragon snorted and it's snake-like tongue slithered from its mouth as he hissed, its red eyes narrowing. It opened its mouth and a large flame erupted from within. I could feel the heat of the blast against my face and I shrank back into his arms, afraid the dragon was going to find us here. But in a matter of seconds, it leaped from its place and took to the skies, looking for an easy prey.

Raerek let me out of his grasp after only a moment's hesitation and nudged me forward. "Hurry up, lass. We need to keep moving before that devil comes back." he spoke lowly, his silver eyes carrying a strange glow to them.

I was honestly still a bit shaken, but a nodded at his words. "Of course. What do you think I was planning on doing? Staying here so we can get eaten alive?" I muttered through only slightly parted lips before starting on my way again. After a few moments of running, we could finally see the walls of the Keep.

"There it is." Raerek's husky voice came from right beside me, an edge of breathlessness showing as he spoke. I couldn't believe that we were actually going to make it! I was sure that everyone in this town were all going to suffer the same cruel fate, but as we neared the Keep, my mind was being swayed. I spoke too soon.

We ran and ran, as fast as we could. The building got closer every step we took, but the pulsing of wings kept getting closer, faster than we could run. My heart pounded within my chest and as I glanced behind me, I began to doubt that we would make it. The dragon was approaching from behind and fire spewed from its mouth, the hot flames licking at our heels. The dragon opened its mouth and a spark deep within its throat illuminated its mouth.

"Raerek!" I cried, not able to tear my eyes away from the beast.

The Nord was only a few feet in front of me, and was quite startled from my sudden outburst. He looked over his shoulder to see what was wrong and his eyes widened as he saw the problem. He waited only a moment for me to catch up, grabbing me around the waist, and hoisted me off my feet. The sudden movement caused me to squeak in surprise and I clung to his body, my eyes squeezed shut.

Raerek neared the door to the Keep, but he was too slow. Fire roared in his ears and his back began to heat. He knew if he didn't act soon, both of us would be reduced to ashes. At the last second, he pushed off the ground and launched us into the air, sailing through the stone entryway. Only moments after, did the wall collapse behind us, sealing us in and everyone else out.

I groaned from the harsh impact, rolling onto my back. I coughed up a little dirt and gave a small wheeze as I sat up. "That wasn't so bad." I grumbled sarcastically, standing up from the rubble covered ground.

"Oh?" Raerek grunted, turning his head to look at me. "If it hadn't been for me, you would have been toast, literally. That's twice now that I saved your ass, Princess." he said, the corners of his lips curving upwards into a smirk.

I glared up at him, but I was already beginning to see that the deadly look was beginning to lose its effect on him, if it ever had one. "Whatever." I grumbled and turned away from him, my cheeks beginning to heat from embarrassment. "Now let's keep going. We might be able to catch up to anyone else who made it in." I said in a hurried tone

A worried look passed through Raerek's eyes for only a moment. "If anyone else made it in." he muttered, looking over at me. "But you're right. We need to get going. That thing is still out there, and we need to warn the rest of Skyrim before it comes to the same fate Helgen did." he said and turned away. "I suggest that you find something to fight with, because I'm done watching your back."

I scowled, but I didn't say anything. I knew that I was defenseless against any danger we would come across. I had no training in any form of battle, but if I had a weapon, at least I could try. I scanned the area and found the body of a dead Imperial soldier. Lying by his feet was a dagger. It wasn't much, but it would do. After collecting the dagger, I hurried after Raerek, who hadn't made it far into the Keep.

"Where are we going?" I asked when I had reached his side once again, my curious eyes on him.

Raerek kept his gaze in front of him when he replied, "If we travel deep enough into the Keep, we should find an escape route that was built in the case of a cave in. If we can make it through, we should resurface near Riverwood, where we can go find help and somewhere to rest." His eyes flickered over to me for only a second.

"Is that it? Do we even have a plan? We don't even know what's down there! We might have survived the dragon, but we barely made it out of there! I don't want to die in this hole! What if-" I was rudely interrupted when Raerek stepped in front of me, stopping me dead in my tracks and my sentence.

"I don't need to hear this from you right now. Our plan is to kill anything that tries to stop us from getting out of here, okay? I'm just as confused as you are, don't make this harder than it already is." Raerek said, his eyes hard and his mouth turned down. He looked intimidating and powerful, but when I looked into his silver eyes, I could tell that he was unsure and scared. The sight shocked me, but it also gave me comfort because I knew then that I was not alone in this.

I nodded slowly, my frustration with him draining away. "Okay." I breathed, my shoulders sagging. "I'm sorry, I just don't know what I'm doing. This is all so new to me, I've never been in a situation like this before." I said, shaking my head. _I'm scared._ I wanted to say, but I didn't want to admit that to him. I didn't want him to think I was weak, because I'm not. I could handle this, I just needed to figure out what I was doing exactly. I straightened up and looked up at him, forcing a smirk onto my lips. "Enough talking... The sooner we get out of here, the better." I prodded him with my finger before moving past him and deeper into the Keep.


End file.
